While growing up, I remember reading children's books that end with the perfect fairytale ending. Someday, I remembing thinking, that could be me. The princess always ended up with the handsome prince, or some sort of ending that was fairly similar to this. I remember reading these books with my sisters, thinking about growing up and having this fairy tale life.
However, as I grew up and got older, throughout my experiences I realized this fairy tale lifestyle was not for everyone. I noticed that most people I knew did not have this type of life and it was only in my childhood books. I continued to get older, gaining more insight and having more experiences, allowing my perception about the fairy tale life to continue to change. I have realized that most of these books allow a happy ending, however, for some people, there may never be a happy ending; you have to make the best of what you have.
As we have been discussing in class, are these fairy tale books giving young children the wrong impression on reality, teaching them to believe that there is a happy ending to every story? I think that these books are good for young children to read. I believe that they should be exposed to these books, however I think they should be exposed to several other books as well. I think children should believe in a happy ending, but allow them to notice that one must make the best of what they have, allowing them to notice that they can achieve their happy ending by making themself happy.
Reading this post made me think of one of my favorite quotes: "Fairytales are more than true: Not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten" G.K. Chesterton.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that fairy tales can send the wrong message about relationships, I think the morals are what make these stories so special. Like what the quote talks about, it gives readers the idea that through love/truth/loyalty/any other moral, you can overcome your adversity. A fairy tale can teach about persistence, how to not give up. In regards to the relationships in fairy tales, I think that falls on parents to talk to them about it, but overall, I believe that fairy tales are an important part of growing up.
I think this post poses an important question, "Are these fairy tale books giving young children the wrong impression on reality, teaching them to believe that there is a happy ending to every story?" One of the most amazing things about children is their positivity and their skewed perception of the world. Through literature they are learning that everyone ends up happily ever after however I do not think that is a bad thing. These types of books and stories have been read/told to children for hundreds of years and most people turn out ok. If children found out that that there are not always happy endings then they would loose their hope, imagination and optimistic outlook on life. Part of growing up is learning to adapt you schema of life and with maturity comes to ability to cope with this reality.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with that fairy tale endings do lead readers to believe that every girl will or should end up with a prince charming and a big old castle. I do think that these stories are great for little kids to read because it makes them happy and the way I think about it is, if a kid reads a happy book that they really enjoy, then they will enjoying reading more, and then continue reading throughout their life. I do agree that these books teach little kids that everyone has a happy ending, and I obviously know that in reality that is not the case whatsoever. However, I do think that these fairy tales are a gateway into the world of reading and helping kids to enjoy reading at a young age. I think that fairy tales are great way to start off a child's reading career and then as they get older and are hooked on reading, then one can branch off to other genres of books. I think that maybe kids can be exposed to some books that are not so predictable and happy at the end, just for exposure to different texts, but ultimately I think that kids should stick closely to fairy tales up until a certain age.
ReplyDeletePrincess fairytales are classics; they are stories that almost everyone in our culture was exposed to growing up. It is hard to think how my perspective on life would be different if I had never heard these tales. Although my childhood I was in search of my prince charming, the guy who would make my life ‘happily ever after’. It was not until I analyzed these stories that I realize influential they were in my life. These stories give children false ideals of how their life should be. They help develop and reinforce the gender stereotypes that are so prominent in our society. It is easy to say that we should not expose these types of stories to our children but would be very difficult to put into effect. These stereotypes are continually emphasized in many aspects of the world and eliminating the use of fairytales will not make enough of an impact to change anything. The way that we should approach these stories is by giving other options. Instead of a girl relying on a guy introduce stories that the roles are reversed or both the man and woman are equal.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post Lauren and you brought up a great point. I do believe fairy tale books give young children the wrong impression on reality. These books make children believe that there is a happy ending to every story and this is not reality. On the other hand, I would have to agree with Tori. Although these books are giving children the wrong impression they are making them happy at the same time and this is making them more interest in reading. If these books are making children more interested in reading then I think it is a good thing, but at the same time parents or teachers should discuss the fact that even though these stories always have happy ending you might not have the same outcome in reality. Even though these are good books to read, I strongly believe children should be exposed to other kinds of books.
ReplyDelete